


Tree Trunks

by FreshDinosaurPoop



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Princes, Alternate Universe - Royalty, How Do I Tag, I promise the story is better than the summary, M/M, Romance, Royalty, princes au, someone really needs to write my tags for me ahahaha, terrible summary please forgive me, thank you minyoongurt for telling me the au name in the comments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27918079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreshDinosaurPoop/pseuds/FreshDinosaurPoop
Summary: William and Nicholas are princes from two neighboring kingdoms. As heirs to their respective thrones, both princes are expected to marry and carry heirs.What happens if they meet and fall in love with each other?
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Tree Trunks

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a story I wrote in 2018 for a contest on Instagram that I never shared anywhere. I edited it a little bit, just fixing some grammar and small stuff like that, so it is not entirely unedited but pretty much the same as it was 2 years ago anyways.   
> It might not be one of the best things you have ever read, but in my opinion it is one of my better works.   
> I hope you enjoy!

Once upon a time in a dark looming castle in the Kingdom of Cerbera lived a young prince, and in a palace not far away in the Kingdom of Arro lived another young, though older, prince.

The two princes had never met, but they had heard of each other, and what they heard they did not like; to the palace prince, the castle prince seemed emotionless, brutal. To the castle prince, the palace prince seemed too merciful, too reliant. Palace prince, named William, thought that if he ever met castle prince he would try to make him laugh; for him, nothing said more about a person than their laugh. Castle prince, named Nicholas, thought that if he ever met William, the prince from the palace, he would try to make him see the darker side of the world.

But, when the two finally met, neither one of their minds dared to remember these thoughts.

It was a bland, boring Monday in Cerbera, boring enough to drive the prince out of his castle. He decided that it was a day for an adventure. He snuck out of the castle, without a guard, and went to explore the nearby forest. His father's kingdom was simply not big enough.

In Arro, on the other hand, it was a Monday full of emotion. The king and queen were very excited, as they had chosen that particular day to let their son in on their plan, their plan for his marriage. Seeing as the prince was not in a relationship of his own, what he felt in that moment must be rather obvious: he was upset, he felt as though his parents had betrayed him, sold him, but he did not say as much.

Prince William asked to be excused, he claimed he needed some time to let the news settle in, to really realize their meaning. He walked out of the giant doors of the palace, stood in the air for a moment, then took off towards the forest. He heard calls of his name, but he acted as though he hadn't, he kept on running. Once he stopped, two things he realized: first, he was lost, second, somewhere, somewhen he had started crying. He sat down on one of the many tree trunks and cried. Cried more tears than he was aware he had, for longer than he ever knew he could.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked from above him. His first thought was that he was worthy of a visit by an angel that had heard him cry, but as he looked above him, the face that greeted him was paler than an angel's ever could be.

"Do I seem alright to you?" He asked, the man— more of a boy really, shook his head. "Then why did you even bother asking?"

"'What's wrong?' always seemed too forceful for me, what if you didn't seek spilling your secret? 'Are you alright?' is a safer option." The boy replied.

William took in his words, he replayed them in his head a few times, he questioned whether the boy was being serious or not. His speculation of the words seemed to have taken longer than he realized; the pale boy sighed and sat before him, on another trunk.

"Care to share?" He asked.

William sighed, could he trust this boy? He had stopped to check on a crying stranger, that must make him trustworthy. "My parents are looking for someone to marry me to." He concluded.

"Oh." The boy said. "My father has not reached that stage yet, I am terribly sorry to hear that. Were you hoping you'd get to marry someone you love?"

"Yes." William sighed. "Were you?"

"Yes."

"Do your parents require an heir, too?"

"Yes."

"Do you always give one-word answers?"

The boy laughed, "No, not always." He said, proving his point. "Do you always ask many questions?"

"No." William said. "Yes."

The boy laughed again. "You're adorable; what's your name?"

William blushed, he wanted to say that the boy was adorable as well, but he didn't. "William." He answered, wiping his eyes with the back of the hand.

"William, as in Prince William of Arro?"

"Depends on who's asking." He raised an eyebrow.

"Prince Nicholas of Cerbera, pleasure to meet you."

"You're nothing like I’d always imagined you would be." William said.

"Neither are you." Nicholas replied quickly.

"Can I call you Nico?" William asked.

"Only if I can call you Will." He challenged.

"Alright, Nico."

"Alright, Will."

For months they met there weekly, and as the time went by it got easier for them to find their spot in the forest, and for reasons they couldn't explain at first, they kept their meetings a secret.  Sometimes they would just sit, face to face and silent, for hours, just looking at each other, admiring their similarities and differences.

In one particular meeting they sat there for a moment longer than usual as they stared at each other's eyes, silently. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing, because the second Will acted, Nico did too.  In less than a second their lips were touching, eyes closed, arms holding each other.

It was their first kiss, but it will always be their best kiss.

And as the years passed and time flew, as both got married, and their children grew, in that forest they still met, knowing that nothing will ever be as good.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it at least a little bit :)


End file.
